Senate Bill 1

This Saturday the Texas House will take up Senate Bill 1, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local governments to raise the revenue needed to pay for public safety, health care, parks, libraries and other services their

This post was updated on July 31, 2017.
The Senate last week passed Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local governments to raise the revenue needed to pay police officers, firefighters and

Increase state support to public schools.
The Texas Legislature is again threatening to interfere with local communities by limiting the ability of local governments to raise the revenue they need to deliver public safety, health care, parks, libraries and other services

Today the Senate Finance Committee approved its substitute for the Senate budget proposal (Senate Bill 1), the General Appropriations Act for 2018 and 2019. Total spending proposed for the next budget cycle in SB 1 is $217.7 billion, a 0.7

Here’s what we know so far
Today, the Senate and House released starting-point budgets for education, health care, and other state-funded services in 2018 and 2019. Each legislative chamber will hold public hearings on the proposals (SB 1 and HB 1)

In the state budget deal for 2014-15 that’s still a few pieces short of being finalized by the 83rd Legislature, public education would see a 7 percent biennial increase, from $52 billion in 2012-13 to $56 billion in 2014-15. General Revenue

With just a few days left in the 2013 legislative regular session, details and summary information on the 2013 and 2014-15 state budget deals are finally starting to emerge. The conference committee report for Senate Bill 1, the General

Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved CSSB 1 (Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1), which would spend $94 billion in General Revenue and $195 billion in total money on services for all Texans during fiscal 2014 and 2015, the

Today, the Senate Finance committee kicked off public hearings on Senate Bill 1, the proposed state budget for 2014 and 2015. At $89 billion in General Revenue, the Senate’s starting point is 8 percent below a conservative estimate of the

Today, we learned a little about what the House and Senate budget proposals included, as well as what the Legislative Budget Board estimates is necessary to cover 2014-15 growth.
We spent some time at the Capitol today doing preliminary analysis and comparing what